'Bite' will be missing from moon tonight with partial lunar eclipse visible

James Cox

For about 80 minutes on Saturday, the full Moon will look very weird with a 'bite' missing from its lower edge.

This is an eclipse of the Moon, a very rare event that can be seen from all of Ireland, weather permitting.

Astronomy Ireland is calling on people to send their best photograph for a special issue of its magazine which will document this historic event.

The best part of the eclipse runs from 8:35pm to 9:53pm when the Moon will be visible high in the East.

This is a partial eclipse of the moon with 12 per cent (about 1/8th) of the Moon's disc covered by the Earth's shadow.

"Lunar Eclipses are visible from Ireland on average every couple of years, but when you factor in the Irish weather people should only expect to see one every decade," said David Moore, CEO of Astronomy Ireland.